Bonding
by Ileana Eve
Summary: Small induvidual moments of bonding between crew members.
1. Dreams of Mother Ginger

Title: Bonding

Chapter Title: Dreams of Mother Ginger and her Polichinelles

Characters: Kaylee and Zoe

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this. It all belongs to Joss & Co. The title comes from The Nutcracker.

Spoilers: Inspired by a conversation between Zoe and Wash in Heart of Gold. This is a bit of a prequel to that, with all the minor spoilers that implies.

"D'you ever think about having kids?"

"What?" Zoe turned around to look Kaylee in the eye.

"You know, you an Wash. I'm sure you two'd make real nice children. Think you'll ever have any?"

"I don't rightly know. Someday, I'd like to. Just one or two though. I don't think I could take much more than that." Zoe paused, taking a moment to think about her and Wash with a couple kids and finding herself enjoying the idea much more than she would have expected. "How about you, Kaylee? See any kids in your future?"

"Oh, definitely. And I'd want a lot. See, my mom used to tell me a story about this little girl who goes off and has all sort of adventures. I liked the whole story, but my favorite part was always when she met this lady named Mother Ginger, who had all these little children stashed under her dress who'd come running out when she lifted her skirts."

"You gonna keep your kids under your dress? I spose that dress the Cap'n got you on Persephone would work, but the kids might protest a wee bit."

Kaylee laughed. "I just mean, I think it'd be fun havin' kids all around me. There'd be me, littluns all underfoot..."

"...a handsome doctor by your side." Zoe finished for her.

"Well, I don't know about that. I've got ta woo him with my good looks and irrisistable charm first."

"I don't percieve that as being much of a challenge for you, little Kaylee."

"Maybe. But I should get right on it anyhow." Kaylee said, getting up. "I'll see ya at dinner Zoe." She shot Zoe a small wink and left, undoubtedly to go track down Simon.

"Bye Kaylee." Zoe's smile lingered long after Kaylee had disappeared from sight, pictures of the kids she and Wash could have taking over her thoughts.


	2. Lost in Space

Title: Bonding

Chapter Title: Lost in Space

Characters: Simon and Wash, mostly

Disclaimer: Nope, these characters aren't mine either. It's all Mutant Enemy's. Not sure who _Lost in Space_ belongs to, but it's not mine either.

Spoilers: Takes place during Out of Gas, in the shuttle with Wash, Zoe, Simon, and River.

"So, what do you think?" Simon asked Wash. "Will anyone find us?"

Wash looked over at him from across Zoe's unconcious body, then shook his head. "I figure it's maybe a 2 chance of even one shuttle being spotted, and that's if another craft happens to be sharing the same space as us."

Simon nodded, then was silent for moment. "You know, after all that I've done to stay off the Alliance's radar, suffocating in a shuttle off in deep space somewhere seems somewhat anticlimactic."

Wash looked down at Zoe, absently rubbing the back of her hand. "How likely do you think it is she'll wake up?" he asked, ignoring Simon's comment.

Simon ventured a glance at Wash, but Wash's gaze was still focused on Zoe. "I really couldn't say," he admitted. "Without the proper diagnostic tools, I can't be sure how extensive her internal injuries are." He refrained from saying that it wasn't likely to matter how bad her injuries were, as they were all a few hours away from certain death.

He didn't want to think about that. As long as he kept feeling sorry for himself, he could almost forget that everyone else was probably going to die too. Mal, all alone on _Serenity_. Kaylee, heading rapidly farther and farther away from him in the other shuttle. River, who he had gone through so much for and still failed to save. If he just kept ruminating on the irony of dying on his birthday, Simon wouldn't have to think about any of them.

"She'd better wake up soon," Wash said. "I wouldn't want her to wake up and find us all gasping for air." Then he smiled slightly. "Zoe'd probably find a way to get us out of it at the last minute if she did though. She's-"

"Shh! You'll steal the air," came a scolding voice from behind Simon. Both Wash and Simon started, then turned to the source of the outburst. River looked straight ahead, focusing on some point beyond both of them, eyes wide. "Sleeping Beauty needs it. Needs it to get us back where we need to be." After that, the shuttle was silent.


End file.
